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Sofia V. Gonzalez



Coloring Place: San Diego, CA

2020

fiber


Artist Statement

As a maker, I feel a frantic urge to record the places I have known, from Northern California to Central Arkansas to my current home of San Diego, to attempt to embody the way these locations shape me and the way I feel within them. Recording and archiving both physical and emotional landscapes, I create a moving methodology to respond to places that have already affected me and those I will meet in the future.

Collecting flowers, hulls, barks, fruits and vegetables, I boil the materials to release the inherent colors of the land. Sewing, looping, and layering naturally stained textiles focuses a restless mind as I archive through making to respond to the fear of what may happen when a place changes. A homesickness for places I still know saturates each stain and reveals a constant concern of what might happen when a specific site and I are no longer connected. The fleeting feeling of place leaves me frantically trying to grasp onto something I cannot hold. To keep still, my hands must move and I ground myself in the physical plants and fibers. I knot, loop, cut, and drape dyed textiles to focus and to remember the intimate moments in each place I know. The cardinal singing in the backyard at dawn is woven into each crocheted thread, actually colored by the neighboring summer weeds.

I am colored by the land; together, we generate place.


Bio and Websites


Sofia V. Gonzalez is a Northern California native currently living and working in San Diego, California. Raised in Marin County, California, Sofia is inspired by her natural surroundings and uses processes of sewing, staining, and color to explore her sense of place. Sofia received her MFA at California College of the Arts in San Francisco in 2014 where she focused on furthering her skills in textiles and natural dye techniques. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States including California, Illinois, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.


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